Will Lea Michele Honor Late Boyfriend Cory Montieth On New Album?

Lea Michele is dropping new hints about her upcoming second studio album and remembering her late boyfriend and former Glee co-star, Cory Monteith.

E! News recently reported that Michele has been hitting the studio pretty hard in recent weeks and is “concentrating all her time” on completing her upcoming release, which Lea Michele previously confirmed in an interview with FLARE magazine will see her go “back to her roots.”

“She is working on new music and has an album coming out that she is really trying hard to concentrate all her time on,” a source told the site, who claimed that Michele’s second album was somewhat of a “distraction” following her recent split from Matthew Paetz, who was thought to be Lea’s first serious boyfriend since Cory’s death in 2013.

The site alleged at the time that Michele “got no reason or explanation for the split” and claimed that Paetz left the actress and singer “all of a sudden and without warning.”

Lea has so far stayed mum on the split with Matthew, who she’s thought to have dated for close to two years, but has hinted to fans that she’s planning to put her feelings into song on her second studio album, which is expected to be released later this year.

Michele most recently got candid about her upcoming release with FLARE magazine, where she confirmed that her second album will take a different route than her debut release, Louder, and features “four-minute-long vocal marathons” that show off Lea’s award-winning voice.

“I’m going back to my roots. It’s not a Broadway album, but there are definitely theatrical elements to it. It’s not about being a pop record and getting on the radio,” Michele told the magazine. “[F]or me, this is about people listening to the songs and going ‘Oh, that’s Lea Michele? I really don’t think there are other people that could sing those songs.'”

“A lot of pop songs are interchangeable among artists,” Lea continued, admitting that her second release will feature songs that are “unique to [her] voice.”

Michele has shared a number of snaps of herself hitting the studio on her Instagram page in recent weeks, including a photo posted on March 30 that the “Cannonball” singer captioned “Studio vibes.”

But while Lea has yet to explicitly reveal any new details about the new tracks she’s been recording for her sophomore release, Josep Vinaixa has been dishing the details about three new tracks Michele has allegedly put on hold for her as-yet-untitled upcoming release.

According to the site, Lea has put on hold the tracks “Heavy Love, “Letting Go” and “The Ones Before You,” the latter of which the site is claiming Michele co-wrote, for her second album.

Though Lea has neither confirmed nor denied that her new album will feature a song similar to Louder‘s “If You Say So,” a song dedicated to her late boyfriend, Cory Monteith, Michele’s big new album details came just days before Lea confirmed to fans that she’s still mourning the loss of her former co-star, who passed away in 2013.

Michele took to Instagram on April 12 to give fans a glimpse at a new “5” tattoo she got for Montieth, the same number Cory’s Glee character Finn Hudson wore on his football jersey on the Fox musical comedy.

“And one more.. for my Quarterback..” Lea wrote alongside the photo, which appeared to show her new tattoo on the side of her torso, alongside the hashtag “#5” and a heart emoji.

Lea previously revealed that her first album was dedicated to the fallen actor, writing in Louder‘s liner notes, “And to my Cory, this album is for you.”